Archery Elk shoulder blade shot

[Jethro]

Yeah everyone wants to be an internet star. All I care about is recovering elk. For the purposes of this poll, the elk that weren’t recovered are just as important as the ones that were.

If anyone following this has shot an ELK, in the shoulder and didn’t recover it, please chime in with answers to the 4
questions….no judgement/finger pointing as no hunter is immune to a possible split second poor decision. The larger the sample group the more powerful the data……thanks all.

For those following (if any ) I will update the thread with a review of the data as we get more/enough


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If the elk wasn't recovered, question #2 is tough to answer.

I've seen an elk hit in shoulder. Judging by how much arrow was sticking out, I'd guess no it did not make it through. Barely any blood. Not even enough to say we "blood trailed" it. More like instant grid search from where it went out of sight. I don't remember if we recovered the arrow.

About 65lbs, 30" draw, 440g arrow, fixed blade. Shot distance 30-35 yards.

 

[switchbckxt]

For sure,…unrecovered shoulder shots will be assumed “not through” and documented as so


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[shootnrun]

I shot a cow at 53 yards about 8 years ago and got a pass through on the offside shoulder blade. 70#, 30 in draw, 480ish grains, fixed blade. She went about 30 yards and stood there for a few minutes before she tipped over

 

[bpurtz]

I'd like to see pictures of the scapula from those claiming to pass through. I hit a bull what I think was dead center of the scapula this past season and got maybe 3/4" penetration.

40 yard shot, Kudu 100 grain, carbon maxima arrow - not sure total weight, 68lbs compound.

The bull ran 20 yards stopped and stood there for 10+ minutes and eventually walked off like he had been stung by a bee - blood trail ended about 50 yards from where I last saw him.

 

[shootnrun]

 

[Dos Perros]

Bull
No
Fixed
430/27.5"/70

 

[bpurtz]

View attachment 676542

How thick/thin do you think the bone was at that spot? I'm guessing, but I believe the bull I lost was hit about half way up from your shot to the top of the blade. I felt like if I was 4-5" to the left (I was looking at the bulls right side) I would've just clipped the blade and killed the bull. I just made a terrible shot.

 

[5MilesBack]

I'd like to see pictures of the scapula from those claiming to pass through. I hit a bull what I think was dead center of the scapula this past season and got maybe 3/4" penetration.

The scapula itself is nothing to write home about, it's fairly thin with a ridge that runs vertically on it. After getting my bull moose quartered and home and processed a few years ago now, I shot the heck out of those scapula's which are bigger and thicker than an elk's, and they provided no resistance at all regardless where I hit them......with both fixed and mechanical heads. I shot them from 40-60 yards.

 

[bpurtz]

The scapula itself is nothing to write home about, it's fairly thin with a ridge that runs vertically on it. After getting my bull moose quartered and home and processed a few years ago now, I shot the heck out of those scapula's which are bigger and thicker than an elk's, and they provided no resistance at all regardless where I hit them......with both fixed and mechanical heads. I shot them from 40-60 yards.

Maybe I hit the ridge - Idk. My arrow broke off at the broadhead and was laying 5 yards from where the bull was standing when I shot.

 

[5MilesBack]

Maybe I hit the ridge - Idk. My arrow broke off at the broadhead and was laying 5 yards from where the bull was standing when I shot.

I hit a big bull square in the shoulder knuckle, where the blade and humerus come together and got maybe 2" of penetration from 17 yards on a slightly quartering to me shot. That's the only thing I know of that completely shuts down penetration on the shoulder area.

 

[Beendare]

I'd like to see pictures of the scapula from those claiming to pass through.

I see where you are going with that….but the scapula varies in thickness from about 1/8” to over an inch on that center ridge. It depends a lot on where you hit it. The scapula i shot through was about 5/8” entry, about 1/4” exit- thats less than a rib.

The front leg bone is heavier than most of the scapula.

Some heads like the 2 blades or tapered 3 blade COC heads just plain blow through stuff- including all but the heaviest bones. Head design and Blade angle matters A lot when it comes to penetration- see the pic below.

Not a shoulder obviously, a straight 2 blade head would have blown through this vertebra but the short bleeder blades along with the bulging ferrule stopped this head in its tracks. Edit; You cant see the bleeders in the pic, they are wedged into bone perpendicular to the main blade.
thats split bone in the background- looks like a nok. Paralyzed the back half of that bull…then it was rodeo time.

Steelforce Phat head 2 blade with bleeder blades…they should call those bleeder blades “penetration Inhibitors”

 

[shootnrun]

How thick/thin do you think the bone was at that spot? I'm guessing, but I believe the bull I lost was hit about half way up from your shot to the top of the blade. I felt like if I was 4-5" to the left (I was looking at the bulls right side) I would've just clipped the blade and killed the bull. I just made a terrible shot.

Maybe 1/4". Long time ago so I can't remember that detail.

 

[Beendare]

Well there was that time I ricocheted an arrow off of a Columbian mammoth leg bone- heres the chip


Ha…. Man look at the mass in that- crazy.
That old Far Side cartoon was right…..

 

[IDbrushswimmer]

Wish I still had the picture but can’t find it. Bull two years ago.
Slick trick ss3
No
27.5, 70 lbs, 450 grains.
Thankfully he was so rutted up that I was able to call him in again further down the draw and put a second arrow in him.

 

[Coveyleader]

When it comes to shoulders vs arrows, just remember the house always wins.

 

[Kyle C]

2 bulls
Yes
517, 28.5, 75lbs
125 exodus, and 125 G5 striker V2
Fairly high FOC I think around 16-17% when I measured it last and running 200 grains total up front.

 

[wapitispokes]

Hey all, looking to compile some anecdotal information about shoulder blade shots from others who have harvested elk…if you’ve shot an elk in the shoulder blade, NOT the leg bone(of course you’ll only really know which if ya recovered but you get the idea….please answer the questions:

1: cow or bull

2: did you get through the blade to vitals

3: type of broadhead, fixed or mechanical (not brand)

4: arrow weight/draw length/poundage

The simpler the answer the easier to follow…

Good example answer:

Bull
Yes
Fixed
430/31/73


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Circa 2018

1. Bull (rag horn, not large)
2. Vitals - Yes, apparently one high lung hit.
3. Fixed Stinger, 125 grain, two blade COC, no vents. Shot distance 23 yards. don't ask...
4. Easton ACC Shaft, total weight about 435 grains. 29.5 inch shaft. 70 lb draw weight.
5. Did not collect the elk....

Note: After a bad experience a few years earlier, I had switched to Abowyer Brown Bear BH's weighing 220 gr with adapter, mounted on 300 spine FMJ's for a total arrow weight of 620 grains, but for various reasons I took my light deer arrows on this elk hunt. Kept the broken arrow stub...IIRC, had something in the range of 9 inches of penetration...Clearly hit one lung. No exit wound. Bull bedded for a while and was coughing blood. Had I been shooting the Abowyer's they should have gone through both Scapulas.

Circa 2012:
Elk #2:
Uncertain what stopped the arrow - scapula or something else. This has nagged at me ever since...

1. Herd Bull, Quartering away.
2. Vitals - Uncertain. No blood, no foamy lung blood. No nothing.
3. Semi-Fixed (Muzzy 125 grain, 4 blade). They are "Bad when hit bone". I don't use THEM any more.
4. Probably: 435 gr TAW, Easton ACC shafts, 29.5 inches, 125 gr. Muzzy's. 70 lbs draw.
5. Did not collect elk.

Appx. 23 inches of penetration.
Arrow hit high in the right chest around the "middle" or somewhat toward the rear of the rib cage angling forward. Fore and aft impact point was good. Height was bad. Ground was relatively level.
Impact zone likely near the top of the lung(s) if it got through the rib cage which I think it most likely did. I suspect the arrow most likely either traveled between the shoulder blade and rib cage, or penetrated rib cage and stopped on the spine. It may or may not have impacted Scapula. No exit wound.
Did not collect the elk.

After this hunt I switched to the Abowyer Brown Bears on 300 spine FMJ's with 620 gr "TAW" for "most" elk hunts. However, whenever I carry those arrows I never had a shot!! That is, until the circa 2017 fateful hunt when I carried my light arrows...since then, I've only carried my "heavies" but I haven't released an arrow at an elk...(I have pulled back, but haven't released).

Within two hours after hitting this herd bull, it was night time and it began raining, we never found any blood. Had camp on our backs so we Bivied on the spot that night and everything was washed away by morning. Bivy nearby the next night and got a foot of snow...two days later on a cold wet hike back to base camp, hiked by the drainage where the shot occurred and saw a Large Bull with a herd stumbling badly as it crossed a creek...but the Bull otherwise looked fine. Believe it was the same bull. Couldn't get in position for another shot.

I can explain why I hit high; #1 "Sh*T happens. #2: This predated modern range finders..was using a Chuck Adams slider style range finder....was fortunate enough to predict where the Bull would walk into the open on a dry south facing slope at about 9,300' elevation vegetation mostly low brush....and I had a good range reading of 40 yards but as I drew for the shot from a kneeling position, an unseen cow called out and the bull turned and took a few steps towards the cow, so I added 5 yards to the estimated range...turned out that when it turned and walked it was essentially walking on the perimeter of a circle and hadn't changed its distance and was still about 40 yards from me...so my arrow struck high.

 

[bz_711]

Bull
Yes
Mechanical
440, 270fps, 68lb

Went back to kill spot following year and picked up the shoulder blade (have it in my garage), center punched scapula, 2 blades broke off which I believed helped and the one blade did the job - watched bull go down in about 80 yards. I'll never forget this bull bugling at less than 20 yards while I'm at full draw (and having a mosquito just digging into my cheek - but I couldn't move)...I had to wait for bull to take one more step.

 

[johnw]

Bull
Yes
Fixed
445, 28" draw, 70lbs
Bull went down in sight. Was raining/turning to snow, no blood. This was a few years back.

 

[switchbckxt]

Great to see more guys chime in, thanks! I haven’t forgotten about this, my intent is to go over the info in a month or so and sorta compile it for anecdotal analysis, should be interesting to have the numbers all together…

Disclaimer: this is not about shoulder shot effectiveness. Shoulder shots on elk are not a good elective choice.


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